Natasha Rudra will be running the blog first up kicking off very shortly, and we'll be getting constant updates from Megan Doherty at the National Arboretum, where the royal couple are due to plant an oak tree after 10am.

As well as the 50 members of the public who won their places at this morning's royal tree planting at the National Arboretum Canberra via a ballot, there will be a smattering of official guests including arboretum chair John Mackay, and MLAs including Simon Corbell, Shane Rattenbury and Brendan Smyth.

Canberra Business Council chief executive Chris Faulks said you would be mad not to take a 10-day holiday over the Easter and Anzac Day weekends if you were able to.

''There is an obvious productivity issue but don't forget in a normal situation people are taking their annual leave, which they're entitled to do,'' she said. ''So provided they're taking their leave entitlements and not taking a sickie there's nothing wrong.''

9:36am on 24 Apr 2014

Megan Doherty is blogging AND tweeting up a storm this morning up at the National Arboretum.

Here's the plaque to be installed with the English oak the royals will plant there today.

National Arboretum Canberra employee Justine McLaren does some last-minute housekeeping for the royal visit.

"It's usually pretty fresh up here but it's just delightful," she said of the stunning autumn weather.

"The Yoshino cherries are going off like globes."

9:27am on 24 Apr 2014

We have an extra cartoon from David Pope to share with you today.

9:21am on 24 Apr 2014

Clear skies at the National Arboretum in Canberra on Thursday morning.

It seems even the weather is behaving for Kate's hair.

The National Arboretum Canberra is usually one of the most wind-swept places in the national capital but today we have a stunning, still autumn morning. Picture perfect for some world-wide coverage. Not even a ripple on

Temperatures almost fell below zero over the past two weeks, with a total of 13 days with minimums below the monthly average of 6.5 degrees. The chilliest day was Easter Sunday, when a cold front and high winds dropped temperatures to a frigid 0.6 degrees.

Simon Ostrovsky, a journalist for Vice News, has not been seen since early Tuesday. He has been covering the crisis in Ukraine for weeks and was reporting about groups of masked gunmen seizing government buildings in one eastern Ukrainian city after another.

Captive ... US reporter Simon Ostrovsky, right, stands with a Pro-Russian gunman at seized police station in the eastern Ukraine town of Slovyansk. Pro-Russian gunman now claim to be holding the Vice News journalist. Photo: APBack to top

Difficult rescue operations continue in the remote, swampy area where the train went of the tracks.

The newly purchased locomotive flew off the rails on Tuesday as it went around a bend in the southeast of the country, causing 15 of the train's 19 cars to overturn.

This picture taken on November 8, 2006 shows a commuter train carrying Congolese people in Kinshasa. At least 57 people were killed when a train derailed in the southeast of the country on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

9:08am on 24 Apr 2014

The tree to be planted by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the National Arboretum in Canberra this morning.

THE tree! The English oak that will be "planted" by Kate and William this morning. Spades at the ready!

9:02am on 24 Apr 2014

A group of ACT and region citizens, ‘Regional Friends of Wildlife’, is challenging the ACT Government’s kangaroo culling policies.

The group wants Territory and Municipal Services to remove what it describes as prejudicial and unsupported information on eastern grey kangaroos from the TAMS website and says there is abundant evidence of kangaroos suffering during annual culls.

The Canberra Times is awaiting a response from the ACT Government on some of the claims from the ACT, Bywong, Wamboin and Queanbeyan residents belonging to Friends of Wildlife

9:02am on 24 Apr 2014

There's already a strong police presence at the National Arboretum for this morning's royal visit.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are due to arrive at the arboretum at 10am, where they will plant an English oak tree and tour the pod playground.

Police at the National Arboretum on Thursday morning. Photo: Megan Doherty

8:49am on 24 Apr 2014

Don't forget drivers on ACT roads are facing an increased police presence and double-demerit point penalties over the Anzac Day long weekend.

Police will target speeding and other driving offences, with double demerit point penalties in place from Thursday until Sunday April 27, inclusive.

Police Minister Simon Corbell said last week that drivers who run red lights or fail to stop at stop signs will receive one extra demerit point.

Six demerit points can be applied to the licence of any driver who does not wear a seatbelt or who permits passengers under 16 years-of-age to travel in a vehicle unrestrained.

Drivers who speed by more than 15km/h and up to 30km/h, six demerit points will be applied. Exceeding the speed limit by 45km/h or more will result in 12 demerit points and the risk of licence suspension.

In a key note speech just weeks ahead of his first budget, Mr Hockey has railed against the unsustainability of the age pension, the growing cost of aged care services, and the drain on the budget from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which he noted was weighed down with 80 per cent of its costs coming from concessional usage.

Treasurer Joe Hockey. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

8:42am on 24 Apr 2014

What's the talk of Canberra on today's opinion pages?

You say:

"Honestly, if Giulia Jones wants to ensure that ACT sex workers are not exploited then she needs to ensure that the industry is not pushed underground where it is not open for inspection by police and other government officials."

"If the Canadian government's figures on the "through-life costs" of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) are an accurate guide, the cost to Australia of buying and maintaining 72 F-35 fighter jets over ther service life will be close to $48 billion."